


The Shell Must Break

by Firelit_dreams



Category: Adam Lambert (Musician), Kris Allen (Musician)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-02
Updated: 2011-03-02
Packaged: 2017-10-16 01:45:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/167093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firelit_dreams/pseuds/Firelit_dreams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kris is a high school librarian who just really wants to avoid any attention. Adam is the school's new music teacher.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part 1

Kris sighed as he heard the commotion in the hallway. He put the last book back in its place on the shelf and pushed the returns cart back behind the counter. He didn't go look to see what the noise was about, he already knew. It happened at this time every day, as well as just before lunch, and at the end of the day. And pretty much any other time the high school's new music teacher passed by the library. He had yet to even meet the man but he already disliked him. Kris had worked hard to keep a low profile and Adam Lambert's presence at the school was already attracting more attention than he liked. He really knew nothing about him other than he was supposed to be some sort of local celebrity but Kris did know that the last thing he needed was some local 'rock god' attracting attention to the school.

The warning bell rang and the noise outside the library started to die down as students ran off toward their classes. A few girls who usually spent their study hall hour in the library pushed their way through the doors still giggling and talking as they found a table in the back of the room. Kris glanced over at them, and they waved and did their best to stifle their giggling. Kris knew he should go over and tell the girls the noise needed to stop completely, but they were the only students there so he let it go, they weren't being _that_ noisy. He had other more important things to spend time on than worrying about two students making noise in the otherwise empty library, so he focused on getting the cleaning done before the bell so he could leave as quickly as possible. He really couldn't afford to be late again. As he dusted and checked for misfiled books on the shelves nearest the girls it also gave him a chance to learn a little more about Mr. Lambert.

"Should we go see him this weekend?" One of the girls asked, leaning closer to her friend and casting a furtive glance at Kris.

"My mom is never going to let me go to a club," the other whispered back. "How would we even get in?"

" _Crush_ is all ages. I don't see why she wouldn't let you go."

"I can ask but should we? I mean, he's a teacher he may not want students to see him there. It could be weird."

"He wouldn't have mentioned where he was playing if he really didn't want anyone to go."

"I guess. It would be fun to see him not being a teacher."

The final bell rang, interrupting any more conversation and the girls started shoving books in their bags. "Bye, Mr. Allen!" The girls said, waving as they headed to the exit. Kris waved back and headed back to his small office to grab his keys so he could lock the doors.

He pulled the office door closed and locked it. The main library was locked at night but he always felt better keeping his office locked as well. He made one final sweep of the library to make sure a student didn't come in while he was in the office. As he headed toward the main entrance the doors swung open and Kris groaned. He hoped whoever it was could find the book they needed quickly because if he didn't leave in the next ten minutes he'd be late again.

"Can I help you find…" Kris' words trailed off when he realized it wasn't a student. "Mr. Lambert, I was just getting ready to lock up. Was there something you needed?"

"I was thinking of assigning the advanced music class a paper on music theory," he answered. Kris wasn't sure if Adam's smile was because he was just ignoring the irritation in Kris' voice or if he was actually that oblivious to it. "I just wanted to be sure the library had enough references for them to do the research."

"I'm sure we do." Kris said curtly. He really needed to leave and didn't have the time to deal with this now.

"Would you mind if I take a look around, see what you have? It'll make it easier for me to form the assignment if I know what they have to work with."

Kris sighed and looked at his watch. He was going to be late. This time it wasn't even his fault, it would be because the new rock star music teacher had to wait until the last possible minute to do his research. God forbid he'd have come in during his free period.

"If you have somewhere to be it's fine," Adam said. "I can come back tomorrow or something."

"I really do have to be somewhere very soon, Mr. Lambert," Kris said. "Umm, I'm here early every morning though if that would work. I can be here by seven."

"Adam," he offered, smile returning and holding out his hand. "I'm not really a morning person, but I can manage it for one day, Mr. Allen."

Kris returned the hand shake and said, "I'm Kris. I'm afraid mornings are usually better for me if you need to use the library outside of school hours."

"I'll remember that," Adam said, holding the door open and gesturing Kris through. "I won't hold you up anymore. See you tomorrow."

Kris nodded and offered a slight wave as Adam was immediately surrounded by the students still lingering in the halls.

** ** **  
"Go ahead and look for whatever you need," Kris said to Adam as he pushed the library doors open. "Just let me know if you can't find something."

Kris went into the small office to put his things away. It had been a hectic morning and he'd barely made it here in time to meet Adam. He should've known better than to offer to meet him so early, it was cutting his time really close and that never went well. The small coffee pot in the corner beeped quietly. He pulled down a mug from the shelf above the machine and filled it. He took a sip as he walked over to the door to watch Adam.

He stood and watched for several moments before realizing that Adam didn't seem to have any idea where to start. Kris had paperwork that really needed to be done and he should just go back to his desk and pretend he hadn't seen the lost expression on Adam's face. That was what he should do, it didn't stop him at all from pulling another mug from the shelf and filling it with coffee before heading back out to find Adam browsing aimlessly through the history section.

"You don't have a clue what you're looking for, do you?" Kris asked, holding out the extra mug to Adam.

"Not really, no," he sheepishly admitted. "I'm a singer, not a teacher. I just really needed the money and Megan convinced the school board to give me a shot."

"So why bother with a writing assignment at all?"

"I don't think the students are taking me seriously," Adam admitted. "They know who I am and just assume I'm going to be a pushover or whatever."

Kris nodded. He had no doubt this was true. He'd heard very little about Adam Lambert that wasn't about his looks and his voice. The students probably weren't overly concerned about him being a tough teacher. "Okay, well what are they studying?"

"You don't have to do this," Adam offered. "Just point me in the direction of the right books and I can find something on my own. I'm sure you have work to do."

"I have a few minutes," Kris said as he pulled out a chair at the closest table.

Adam pulled sat in the chair across from him and began explaining the lesson plan for both the last few weeks and the upcoming weeks. Kris listened and commented occasionally, and the discussion eventually evolved into the two of them discussing their own musical influences. They both looked up in surprise when the warning bell rang.

"It's been an hour already?" Adam asked.

Kris glanced at the clock and nodded. "That could be a good writing assignment though."

"The sudden disappearance of time?" Adam asked raising a brow, "That doesn't really sound like a musical writing assignment."

"No. Musical influences."

"Good idea," Adam said smiling. "And I don't have time to look at available material. Any chance you can come in early tomorrow?"

Kris hesitated. Coming in early was really a huge hassle but it was his job to make sure the teachers had access to the library if they needed it. "Yeah, no problem."

"See you tomorrow, then." Adam said, waving as he pushed his way past the library doors and into the hallway.

** ** **

"Oh my God," Adam said as he pulled the library door closed behind him. He leaned against the door, letting the messenger bag on his shoulder drop to the floor, and added, "Hide me."

Kris glanced up from the paperwork he had been reading, "Hide you from what?"

"Teenage girls. They're everywhere," Adam said. "Does this door lock?"

"It is a high school, so no escaping them, sorry. And yes it does, but it has to be open during school hours."

"Do you mind if I have lunch in here?" Adam asked holding up a lunch bag, "It's my free hour and I usually end up losing half of it to students stopping me before I make it to the teacher's lounge."

"I was just going to have lunch as well," Kris said, walking toward his office, "We can eat back here."

"Thanks," Adam said following Kris into the small office and dropping his bag next to the chair across from the desk. "I just really needed a few minutes of quiet."

Kris nodded, he could definitely understand needing a few minutes without a pressure and as much as he hated to admit it, he liked Adam. He was still worried about all the attention he was drawing but he felt an immediate connection to him this morning. "You should be safe in here, most students avoid the library."

They ate their lunches and picked up their discussion about music from that morning. They talked about their own musical interests as well as possibilities for the advanced music class' paper. Adam scribbled down Kris' suggestions for the paper on a notebook he'd fished out of his bag. Once again Kris was so caught up in the discussion that he was startled by the bell signaling the end of the period.

Adam glanced up at the clock, "Once again we managed to spend an hour talking and not actually get out there to look at any of the books."

"Tomorrow we'll look for books first, and then talk," Kris suggested. "Actually I'll see if I can pull any books that might be of help this afternoon."

"You just want more time to talk to me," Adam said, smiling.

"No, that's not—"Kris stammered, eyes wide. "I didn't mean…"

"Relax," Adam said, holding a hand up. "I was kidding."

Kris relaxed and gave him an embarrassed smile, "I'll see you in the morning, then?"

** ** **

"Daddy, when are we having dinner?"

Kris looked up from the computer at his son, then back at the time. He'd completely lost track of time going through the forms to order new material for the library. He and Adam had spent the morning going over the library's books on various musicians and music theory. Kris had even helped him form the assignment. Adam had shown up again at lunch time, and they'd spent another hour just talking. Adam told Kris about his family and his music. Kris felt bad that he'd been as vague as possible to any questions Adam had asked of him, but he'd worked so hard at keeping his private life private that he just couldn’t tell Adam much of anything.

"Sorry, lost track of time," Kris said closing his laptop. "Should we just order pizza?"

"Sure," David agreed quickly. "Can I play video games until it gets here?"

"Homework done?" Kris asked reaching for his phone.

"It's Friday."

"Homework first," Kris said, "Then you'll have all weekend to play games."

"But it's only one worksheet," David argued.

"Great, then it shouldn't take you long at all," Kris responded, as he waited for someone to answer the phone.

He watched David storm back into his room and shut the door. He didn't need to follow him to know he was on his bed pouting, but would eventually get the worksheet done so he could play video games. There are days he wonders how his parents survived raising both him and Daniel. Nights like this he wishes he could ask his mother how she dealt with pouty eight year olds who didn't want to do their homework. He can't though, it's too risky to call her, so he manages as much as he can. He quickly places the pizza order before dropping his phone back onto the desk and going to check on David.

He knocked softly before pushing the door open a crack. "David?"

"What?" He was laying his back, arms crossed over his chest.

"Do you want help with the worksheet?" Kris asked walking into the room and looking down at his son on the bed.

"No," David sighed. "It's easy, I can do it alone."

"If it's that easy you could already be out there playing your game, if you hadn't wasted all this time pouting."

David sat up and looked at Kris, "I don't know why I can't do it on Sunday like everyone else."

"I'm sure other kids have to do it on Friday too," Kris said. They had this argument every week since David starting receiving homework. "And we've discussed it already, you need to learn good study habits and waiting until the last minute is not one of them. Now, if you finish it before dinner we can play Mario Kart before bed."

"Fine," David said, going over to the small desk in the corner of his room and pulling a folder from his bag as he sat down. "I'll do it now."

Kris went back to the living room to finish up the last of his book order. He couldn't very well put off his own 'homework' after insisting David do his right away. His mind still kept wandering back to the last few days and getting to know Adam. His fear of Adam's celebrity, even if it was only local, being a danger to him and David was starting to make way for the desire to finally have someone to talk to. An adult. He loved David but occasionally talking to someone over eight years old was necessary.

He was also curious about Adam's show, he'd heard talk around the school since the term began about either how wonderful or how shocking the shows were and he was curious to see for himself, but he didn't know if that was even possible. The girls in the library had said the other day that Adam was playing at Crush however even an all ages club didn't extend to eight year olds. Nor did he want to expose his son to the show if it was anything like what some of the people who labeled it as shocking had described. He quickly looked up the club and checked the performance time. He'd be able to go and still back fairly early, and it wasn't like he had to work on Sunday. Making a decision he grabbed his phone and sent a text before he could change his mind.

 _you busy tomorrow night? need a sitter._

Allison responded almost immediately. Kris hadn't been expecting that having assumed she'd be out with her friends tonight.

 _sure. what time?_

 _7 ok?_

 _i'll be there_

Kris set his phone down, just as there was a knock on the door. "David, pizza's here!" he yelled.

David came into the kitchen just as Kris was pulling out the paper plates. "I finished my worksheet, do you want to check it?" He asked holding up a sheet of paper.

Kris put a slice of pizza on David's plate and two on his own and carried them over to the table. "Set it down, I'll look at while we eat." After grabbing bottles of water for each them Kris took his seat and scanned the homework assignment as he ate the first slice of pizza. "It all looks right to me."

"You'll play Mario Kart, now?"

"As soon as we finish dinner," Kris agreed. "Allison is going to come over and watch you tomorrow night, is that okay?"

"Yeah," David said slowly. "Where are you going?"

Kris sighed. He'd left David with Allison before but never at night. It was usually on days he couldn't get to latchkey before closing or David had a day off from school but the high school didn't. He really never went out at night. "I was going to go see a friend, but if you want me to I can stay home."

"Like a date?"

"No," Kris answered. "Not a date. One of the teachers I work with is singing somewhere and I'd like to go see him."

"Can I stay up late with Allison?" David asked.

"As long as you're good and she doesn't mind, yes."

David stood up and grabbed both his empty plate and Kris' and took them to the trash. Kris followed behind and grabbed the pizza box and stuck it in the refrigerator.

"Go see your friend," David agreed.

"You're sure?"  
"Yep. I like Allison."

"Okay then," Kris said, smiling, "Ready to lose at Mario Kart?"

"No way," David argued already heading into the living room. "You're going to lose."


	2. Part 2

Adam dropped his bag on the floor next to the door as he walked into his apartment. It'd been another long week, he really wasn't sure he was cut out for teaching. Well, to be fair, the teaching part wasn't the problem. What was so exhausting were the hordes of teenage girls following him everywhere, asking inane questions. At least he had the weekend free, or mostly free. He'd accidentally slipped and told a few students where he was singing this weekend, which wouldn't be that bad if the club wasn't an all ages club.

On the bright side, he did finally manage to meet the librarian, he thought as he flopped back onto the sofa. His students would probably hate him because in order to meet Kris he'd had to make up a writing assignment for his class, so he'd have a reason to go to the library. He hadn't intended to follow through with the assignment he just wanted to meet Kris, but then when he'd offered to come in early so he could find what he wanted, he'd committed himself to the assignment. He was glad he had though, he liked Kris. Once Adam had gotten him to relax enough to talk they'd really clicked. At least on the surface they had. Adam hadn't been able to get him to share much about his life but they had many of the same tastes in music and movies.

His phone buzzed on the table in front of him. He leaned forward and grabbed it. "Hi."

"Are we going out tonight?" Danielle asked.

Adam groaned. He'd planned on going out but now that the week was finally over all he wanted to do was sit on the couch and stare at the television. "Any chance you just want to come over and watch a movie? Pick up dinner on the way, maybe?"

"So then, meeting the cute librarian didn't go as planned?"

"I met him," Adam sighed. "I’m just exhausted. I thought teaching would be easier than this."

"Teenage girls still harassing you?" Danielle asked, laughing.

"You could at least pretend to be sympathetic," Adam pouted. "Are you coming over or not?"

"Fine, I'll be there in an hour with food and a movie."

"Bye!" Adam disconnected the call and pushed himself off the couch, he had time for a shower before Danielle arrived.

An hour and half later he and Danielle were on the couch with Chinese takeout containers spread out in front of them. The romantic comedy Danielle had chosen playing in the background as they talked about their weeks.

"So you met the librarian?" Danielle asked. "What's his name? What was he like? Do we still like him or was he a jerk?"

"Yes I met him, his name is Kris. He's not a jerk at all, so yeah I still like him."

"What do we know about him? Did you ask him out?"

"Not much," Adam admitted, although it wasn't from lack of trying on his part. He quickly described his meetings with Kris over the last couple days. "I know what kind of music he likes, and that he plays guitar and sort of sings, but not much else. No, I didn't ask him out, I'm not even sure he's gay."

"Well, find out," she said.

"I think he might be," Adam admitted. "But then Megan said she thought he had a kid."

"There's plenty of ways he could be gay and still have a kid," she pointed out. "There's adoption or surrogacy, or he could be bi."

"He's really private and guarded though. I'm afraid if I push and ask him out it'll ruin everything. I think I need to wait until there's some sign."

"So you're going to what? Just sit around and hope he'll decide he wants you on his own?"

"I was thinking continuing the lunches and some flirting and you know, moving slowly."

"That is so not you," Danielle said, smiling.

"I can be patient," Adam insisted.

"Yeah, sure you can," she said, grinning and ducking as he tossed a fortune cookie at her head.

** ** **

"This place is packed," Tommy said as he walked into the dressing room where Adam was putting the finishing touches on his hair and makeup. "I didn't think a show this early would draw this big of a crowd."

"I accidentally told some students I was playing here tonight," Adam sighed. "Word probably spread pretty fast."

"So all those girls out there—"

"Underage, sorry." Adam dropped his lip gloss back into his bag and glanced at the clock. "Ready?"

Tommy went to find the others and let the club manager know they were ready while Adam headed to the stage to see just how many of his students were out there. Tommy had been right; he'd never seen so many people here before. He also recognized a lot of them from school, many from his classes. As he scanned the crowd trying to see if there were any adults in the audience, he saw Kris at a table hidden in the corner. Adam tried to convince himself that Kris being there was a coincidence. This could just be a club Kris liked, okay, so he didn't seem like the club type but he'd only known him for a few days so he could be wrong.

"Ready?"

"Yeah," Adam said, as he turned to make sure the rest of the band was there, before adding, "Whenever you are."

** ** **

Adam hurried off the stage as soon as he'd finished the last song. He'd been watching Kris almost as intently as Kris had been watching him all through the set. Now he just needed to get out there before Kris left. He started to push open the door that led to the main floor and saw the same sea of teenage girls he faced every day gathered around it, so he pulled it shut again. He could hear the girls talking on the other side, they were definitely waiting for him, he could try to wait until they had to leave, kids still had curfews right? But, if he did that Kris might be gone too and he'd miss his chance to talk to him. He continued to lean against the door and listen, maybe the crowd would at least start to taper off out of boredom.

"Who was the blond guy?"

"He was cute, wasn't he?"

"He was, maybe he'll come out with Mr. Lambert."

Adam smiled slightly when he saw Tommy heading his way. He reached out and grabbed Tommy's arm. "I need your help."

"Sure what?"

"Just go out there with me," Adam said, tugging his arm as he pushed the door open.

"Adam, I…"

"Hi girls," Adam said, smiling brightly as the crowd moved closer.

"Hi Mr. Lambert," several girls responded. He also caught several compliments and he smiled and waited for the noise to die down so he could speak again.

"This is my friend Tommy," he said, pulling Tommy further into the crowd.

"Hi," Tommy said, waving slightly at the girls whose eyes were all trained on him now.

Adam gave Tommy a slight push forward as the girls started asking Tommy questions and quickly and quietly slipped through the crowd and headed to the bar to grab drinks and then to the mostly hidden table he'd seen Kris at. As he grabbed the beer for Kris and a drink for himself he looked back toward where he'd left Tommy, and pushed down the small feeling of guilt inside him. He'd make it up to him; buy him dinner or something another day.

Adam set the bottle down in front of Kris, and slid into the seat opposite him. "I didn't know you'd be here tonight."

"I didn't know either," Kris admitted, "It was kinda spur of the moment."

"You should've let me know you were here. They hold a table near the front for the band's guests."

"You weren't supposed to know I was here, either," Kris said softly, a blush creeping up his cheeks.

"Why not?" Adam asked. He really was curious why Kris would make the effort to come to the show but not want him to know he was there.

Kris' blush darkened, as he stammered, "I—I just—I don't usually do this. I don't like to complicate my life any more than it already is."

"Seeing me sing complicates your life?" Adam asked, raising an eyebrow.

"More than you know," Kris said, finishing his beer. "And I really need to get out of here, before anyone—"

"Adam, there you are." Before Kris could finish his sentence the club manager came to the table with a woman following behind him. "This is Jill, she's that reviewer I told you might be here."

"Oh right," Adam said, frowning. He looked back at Kris, "I'll only be a few minutes, can you wait?"

"I can't," Kris said, sliding out of the booth, "I really have to get home."

Adam watched Kris slip into the crowd and out the door before he turned his attention back to the woman who had slid into Kris' seat. "I’m sorry, Jill, I'm all yours now."

"Who was that?" She asked, "A boyfriend?"

"No," Adam sighed.

** ** **

Adam pushed the library doors open Monday morning, careful not to spill the two coffees he'd picked up on his way. He headed for the office when he spotted Kris behind his desk, reading a newspaper. "Kris!" When Kris didn’t immediately look up he set one of the cups in front of him as he took the seat on the opposite side. "I brought coffee."

"Hi," he said lowering the newspaper. "Um, thanks for the coffee. I didn't think you'd be in early again. Did you still need to look at resources for the paper?"

"I thought I'd just come in so we could talk," Adam said, shaking his head. "Is that okay? We didn't really get a chance at the club."

"Oh, yeah," Kris said, "We didn't, did we? I just wasn't expecting to really see much of you anymore. "

"We work in the same school," Adam pointed out. "We were bound to run into each other."

"Not really. I rarely leave the library."

"And as we discovered last week, the library is the one place that the students don't follow me. And I like you."

Kris' eyes narrowed and he stared at Adam for several moments before speaking. "I told you I don't need to complicate my life."

"Yeah, you did," Adam agreed. "But you never explained why I'm a complication. Maybe I just want to be friends."

"Do you?" Kris asked, raising an eyebrow. "Just want to be friends?"

Part of Adam's brain was telling him to lie, don't risk frightening Kris. The other, more honest part of his brain was saying that lying was a bad idea and would only make things end in disaster. "No."

"Adam, I don't," Kris got up and began pacing. "It's only been two years since Katy—I'm really not ready for this. Especially not with someone like you."

"Ready for what?" Adam asked. "So far all I've asked for is morning coffee and a place to hide during lunch."

"I know," Kris said nervously. "But you want more than that."

"Yeah, I probably do," he agreed. He was choosing his words carefully trying not to upset Kris anymore than he already had. "But I've got time. I can wait until you're ready. And what did you mean by 'someone like me'?"

"You're in today's newspaper." Kris said, sitting back in his chair and pointing to the paper he'd been reading when Adam arrived.

"Yeah, it happens sometimes, reviewers show up and they want to talk to the performer," Adam agreed. "Is that a problem?"

"I can't—" Kris hesitated again, then said "I'm a very private person."

"Look Kris," Adam said. "I'm not going to try to push you into anything. I'm also not going to do anything to make your private life less private. Those interviews aren't all that common and they usually focus mostly on the clubs, not me. When they are about me, I keep it about the performances. I don't want them in my personal life either. And right now, I don't imagine they'd have any interest in my having coffee with the school librarian."

"You don't know anything about me," Kris pointed out.

"I want to though, and since I’m pretty sure you'll bolt if I ask you out," Adam said patiently. "I’m willing to stick to these morning coffees and lunches until I do know you."

"You aren't going to give up are you?"

"No."


	3. Part 3

"So, are you ever going to tell me anything about your life?" Adam asked, setting down his sandwich. "You know everything about mine."

Kris wasn't exactly surprised by the question. They'd been meeting every morning for coffee, and every afternoon for lunch for nearly a month, and Adam _had_ told him a lot about his life, while Kris had carefully skirted answering any but the most basic questions about his own. "I've told you about me."

"No," Adam argued. "All I know is that you have a son."

"That's pretty much my life. I work here all day and spend the rest of my time with David."

Adam nodded. "That's your life now, but it wasn't always. What did you do before you were a full-time dad?"

Kris sighed, Adam wasn't going to give up this topic; he tried to bring it up every day. He had told him about David in the hope that it would get him off the subject of Kris' past or even his current life. He'd worked so hard to build this new life here and to keep David safe and he hated the idea of risking that just because he found someone he sort of liked for the first time in two years.

There was also a part of him that realized he was overreacting. He had moved here over a year ago, and no one had come looking for him. Adam had lived here a long time before Kris had shown up. Adam wasn't here to hurt him, and he didn't have to tell him everything, he could just tell him parts of it. "What do you want to know?" Kris asked cautiously.

"Really?" Adam asked, leaning forward and grinning when Kris nodded. "Let's start easy. Where are you from?"

"Arkansas." Kris tried to hide his relief at such a simple question.

"David's mother? Katy, right? You mentioned a Katy the other day." Adam said and waited for Kris to nod again. "Where is she now? Were you married? Girlfriend?"

Kris took a deep breath and considered how to answer those questions without saying too much. "We were married. She died five years ago. There was an accident."

"Is that when you moved here?"

"Not right away," Kris admitted quietly. "We tried to make it work and stay close to both my family and Katy's. In the end it was just too hard. Too many memories and too much pressure. We needed to start over so we came here." It wasn't a lie; they had left Arkansas because of the memories of Katy. It just wasn't Kris or David that hadn't been able to let go of her.

"I'm sorry," Adam said, reaching for his hand. "I didn't mean to bring back the pain."

"You didn't," Kris said quietly, glancing down at where Adam's hand was now covering his. "We came here to move on and being able to talk about her is part of that, I guess."

"Do you have plans for this weekend?" Adam asked sitting back in his seat, clearly trying to change the subject.

"Yes, very exciting ones," Kris said smiling. "I promised David if he had a good progress report from his teacher this week he could have a sleepover and a trip to Chuck E. Cheese. What about you?"

"Nothing that can top that."

"No performances or anything this weekend?" Kris asked.

Adam shook his head. "I'll probably lie around and watch TV and enjoy the quiet. Maybe try to figure out how to have lunch alone for two days."

"I'm sure you can manage it," Kris said, grinning. "Lunch alone isn't that difficult."

"But two days without talking to you, might be," Adam suggested, teasing, "You could give me your number in case I have a lunch crisis or something."

Kris hesitated for a second. Was letting Adam further into his life a good idea? He reached over and grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled his number on it. He hadn't been lying when he said that he needed to move on from Katy. Trusting someone new and letting them into his life was the first step in doing that. He pushed the paper over to Adam. "It's my cell number in case your emergency happens while we're out."

** ** **

"Time for a bath and then bed," Kris said, pushing open the bedroom door.

"Ten more minutes?" David said, turning his most pitiful looking pout on Kris.

"You got ten minutes, thirty minutes ago," Kris pointed out. "It's way past your bedtime and you still have to take a bath."

"Can't I just finish this—"

"The toys will still be there in the morning, David," Kris interrupted; he knew it was David's job as a child to fight bedtime but he was not having this argument again. "Bath, then bed, or I'm canceling tomorrow."

David dropped the action figure he'd been holding into the pile of toys on the floor, and stomped past Kris and headed for the bathroom.

"Let me know when you're done and I'll tuck you in," Kris called just as the bathroom door shut, harder than it should have. He went into his own room and quickly changed into the sweatpants he usually slept in, he was just returning to the living room when his phone rang. Reaching for it, he frowned, it was a local number but he didn't recognize it. Very few people had his number, and they were mostly work related and wouldn't be calling on a Friday night. "Hello?" He said cautiously answering it.

"Kris? It's Adam."

"Hi!" Kris felt himself relax immediately. He'd completely forgotten he'd given Adam his number at lunch. "It's 9:30 at night, you can't be having a lunch crisis."

"I was just remembering why I take so many weekend gigs and rarely stay home on days off," Adam admitted, adding sheepishly, "I hate being by myself and I get bored to tears."

"And you decided to call me to share your epiphany?" Kris asked, pulling a bottle of water from the refrigerator and going back to the living to wait for David.

"No," Adam retorted, and then added, "Well sort of. I'm bored and I needed someone to talk to, so I called you."

Kris grinned. Adam had called him and not one of his other friends. Not that it mattered, of course, Kris wasn't interested in Adam Kris didn't have the time or energy to worry about dating right now. Everything in his life was centered on keeping David with him.

"Aw, admit it, you missed me," Kris teased. Then frowned, he was flirting with Adam again. This wasn't the first time he'd found himself doing that. He kept blaming it on it simply being a natural reaction to Adam's flirting, but this time he'd started it, not Adam.

"Do I sound pathetic if I say you're right?" Adam asked. "Don't answer that. Let's just say you have your very own stalker now. Don't be surprised if you see my creeping around tomorrow."

Kris laughed, feeling more relaxed since meeting Adam than he had in a long time. "Yeah, a childless man creeping around won't attract any attention at Chuck E. Cheese, although, I've never had my own stalker before."

"What's a stalker?" David asked from where he was standing next to the couch. Kris hadn't even heard him come in the room.

Kris dropped his head against the back of the couch, and groaned when heard Adam's chuckle. "It's nothing, Adam's joking," Kris said holding his hand out to his son and pulling him closer when David took it.

"Who's Adam?" David asked, curling into the spot under Kris' arm and resting his head on his chest.

"A friend."

"I didn't know you had a friend," David said, looking up at him. "Is he going with us tomorrow?"

"Going with us?" Kris repeated, surprised. "I don't think Adam would want—"

"You should invite him," David suggested. "Then you'll have someone to talk to."

"Fine," Kris mumbled, then turned his attention back to the curiously quiet Adam on the phone. "Adam?"

"Yeah, I'm still here." Kris frowned at the phone because he could hear the amusement in Adam's voice.

"Would you like to go with us tomorrow?" Kris asked, not really sure what he wanted Adam's answer to be.

"I'd love to," Adam answered cheerfully.

"You sound cheerful now, wait until you've been locked in a building with a couple hundred children running and screaming for an hour.

"It can't be any worse than Saturday nights at the club."

"Oh, you'd be surprised," Kris muttered. "I've gotta go put David to bed now, Do you want to meet us there around noon?"

"Perfect," Adam agreed. "Looking forward to it."

** ** **

Adam was still picking at his salad while staring at the pizza when Kris set the pitcher of lemonade down and slid onto the bench across from him. "You can have a slice, you know?"

"And gain about 20 pounds," Adam sighed. "The salad is fine."

"Whatever," Kris said frowning at him. A group of kids ran behind Adam, screaming. Kris chuckled when he saw Adam wince. "Are you sorry you agreed to this yet?"

"It's not that bad," Adam answered, unconvincingly. "It did mean not having to face lunch alone, and gave you the chance to prove you do have a friend."

"You do know he mostly cares because he thinks if I have someone to talk to we'll stay more than a couple hours, right?" Kris explained.

"More than two hours?" Adam asked, eyes widening in horror as he glanced around the crowded room.

"You don't have to stay," Kris pointed out. "The longer they play here the earlier they will fall asleep tonight."

"Still not sure it'd be worth it," Adam said, nearly shouting to be heard. "I've been to quieter clubs."

Before Kris could respond David and Robert ran up to the table. "Can we have more pizza?"

"Sit down first," Kris answered. Both boys slid onto the bench grabbing slices as they did.

"Do you want to play in the ball pit with us?" David asked Kris, as he reached for the lemonade. Kris grabbed the pitcher first and refilled both boys' glasses. "It's not too crowded."

"I don't think so," Kris answered. "Maybe another day."

"But you always do it," David pouted.

"You always play in the ball pit?" Adam asked, raising an eyebrow in question. "I mean, I know you're small but—"

Kris sighed, glancing back and forth between his pouting son and a smirking Adam. "I will if Adam does," he finally answered.

David and Robert both turned their best puppy dog eyes looks on Adam. Kris almost laughed at how fast the smirk fell from Adam's face. "Please?" David pleaded. "It's fun."

"I don't think I’m dressed for it," Adam said weakly. "These boots are really not—"

"You have to take off your shoes and jewelry to go in, but they have lockers if you don't want to leave them at the table," Robert explained pointing to a small hallway that led to the restrooms.

"I can't get out of this, can I?" Adam asked looking at Kris for help.

"Not likely," Kris responded, trying to hide his own smirk, then turned to the boys, "We're going to get a locker, and we'll meet you over there."

The boys yelled their thanks as they ran toward the ball pit and Kris and Adam headed toward the row of lockers. As they removed their shoes and Kris waited while Adam removed his rings and necklaces, Adam muttered, "I can't believe they even let adults in that thing."

"It's only for ten minutes," Kris said casually. "Each group is allowed ten minutes, then they have to get out for others. When parents go in with the kids they just allow the kids that belong to the adults getting in."

"Makes sense, I guess," Adam said, slamming the locker closed and pocketing the small key. "At least I don't have worry about injuring strangers' children." They quickly caught up with the boys and as David had said it wasn't crowded at all and they got in immediately.

"What do you even do in here?" Adam asked, standing in the center of pit, with brightly colored balls piled nearly to his waist.

"Haven't you ever done this before?" Robert asked. "When you were a kid?"

"Nope."

"We could play Marco Polo," David suggested.

Kris groaned. "You only like that because you can move easier than we can so you always win."

"Yep," David agreed smiling. "Ready? I'll be 'it' first."

"Fine," Kris agreed and Adam agreed.

David turned his back and started counting to give the others a head start.

"How are we even supposed to move in here?" Adam asked.

"Slowly," Kris said, pushing his way closer to Adam. "That's why he likes to play."

They spent the next ten minutes chasing each other around, David and Robert managing to avoid being tagged again throughout the game, as Kris had predicted. When their time was up and they'd all climbed out, Kris told the boys they had a half an hour left to play then they were leaving, before he and Adam headed to the back again to claim their belongings from the locker.

"Oh my God," Adam moaned as he sat back on the bench to put pull his boots on. "I'm going to be covered in bruises tomorrow. You so owe me for this."

Kris smiled. "You had fun, admit it."

"I may have had a little fun," Adam agreed. "But if you tell anyone that I'll deny it."

"Oh, I'm so telling the entire school on Monday morning," Kris teased.

"You wouldn’t," Adam gasped, eyes wide in mock horror.

"I would," Kris said doing his best to keep a straight face. "Imagine the reaction to the news that Mr. Lambert, _Rock God_ music teacher can't handle the ball pit at Chuck E. Cheese."

"Do you really want to admit to the whole school our first date was at Chuck E. Cheese?" Adam asked.

Kris eyes widened. Was this a date? He hadn't thought of it that way when he'd invited Adam. It couldn’t be a date, you don't bring kids on dates, right? It had been so long since dating had even crossed his mind that he hadn't considered that his invitation could be interpreted that way. Of course, it made sense sort of, Adam knew he didn't really have a lot of babysitting options and they'd been flirting all week and then inviting him—

"You should see your face right now," Adam said, laughing and pulling Kris from his imminent panic attack. "I was teasing about the date. Unless you wanted it to be?"

"I don't know," Kris admitted. "I hadn't thought about it, really. I was mostly just thinking of having company that wasn't constantly begging for video game money."

Before Adam could answer, David slid in next to him and began pulling his shoes on. "We're going to stop for movies on the way home, right?" David waited for Kris to nod his agreement before looking at Adam and asking, "Are you coming to the sleepover?"

"I don't think—" Adam stammered.

"Can he come, dad?" David asked. "You said he sings, and you were going to play the guitar so he could sing some of the songs, please?"

Kris sighed and resisted the urge to bang his head against the table. David was doing nothing to help him get over this attraction to the absolute wrong person. "Adam may have plans."

David turned pleading eyes back on Adam. "You can even pick one of the movies."

"Well how can I resist that?" Adam said, smile spreading across his face. Then turning to Kris, "You don't mind?"

He did mind, a lot. Adam being in his house was only going to create the complications he'd been so intent on avoiding. He wasn't going to say that though, David was happier than he'd been in a while and frankly he enjoyed having adult company this past week. "Of course I don't mind."

"I'll have to swing past my place for some things," Adam said, "I'll meet you back at your apartment in an hour?"

"How will you pick a movie if you aren't with us?" Robert asked.

"I'll bring one from home," Adam suggested.

"A child appropriate one," Kris interjected. They'd talked enough about movies to know that Adam's taste was not always acceptable for eight year old eyes.


	4. Part 4

"Hey, Danielle," Adam said as he sorted through the clothes in his closet trying to decide what to bring with him, "I can't make movie night this week."

"Better offer?" She asked, "Brad want to go clubbing or something?"

He tossed a t-shirt and jeans on his bed and headed into the bathroom to grab a few things from there. "I’m going to a sleepover," he said smiling as he pictured the look the on her face.

"Sleepover?" Danielle asked. "Umm, yesterday he was hesitant to give you his number, now you're spending the night?"

"Unfortunately, it's not like that," Adam sighed as he threw what he needed into a duffle bag as he ran through his mental list of necessities. "Pajamas, I need pajamas. Do I even own any?"

"Relax. Just grab some sweats," Danielle suggested.

"Anyway, it's not like that," Adam repeated taking her suggestion, and throwing sweat pants into a bag. "His son is having a sleepover with a friend and he asked if I wanted to come."

"That's so sweet," Danielle said laughing. "At least the kid likes you."

"Whatever, he's a cute kid," Adam said as he went into his living room and started examining his DVD collection. "I'm supposed to bring a movie."

"Good luck finding anything child appropriate at your house," she said still sounding too amused for Adam's taste.

Adam sighed, there was nothing even close to appropriate in his collection. "I've gotta run, I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

They quickly said their goodbyes and Adam sent a text to Kris asking how important it was that he bring a movie. He continued his search for family movies while he waited for a response. His phone finally buzzed, he tapped the screen and waited for Kris' response to appear.

 _don't worry about it. the boys wanted all 3 star wars movies._

Adam sighed in relief and grabbed his bag, at least now he didn't need to make a stop at a store for a movie.

** ** **  
"We can stay up as late as we want, right?" David asked as he put the first movie into the DVD player. "It's a sleepover so there isn't a bedtime, we can stay up to watch all three movies?"

"Of course," Kris agreed.

Adam did his best to contain his groan of misery at the thought of watching the entire Star Wars trilogy in one night. He had never gotten into the Star Wars movies as a kid, and he didn't like them any more as an adult. This was going to be a long night.

"Don't worry. They won't even make it through the first one," Kris whispered, as he leaned closer to Adam.

"Will too," both boys said, from where they had sprawled out on the floor with a variety of snacks.

"Whatever," Kris answered shrugging, and then turned back to Adam, "You really didn't have to agree to this, you must have had more interesting things to do on a Saturday night than watch old movies."

"I wouldn't be watching Star Wars," Adam admitted, he really wasn't a fan. "But I've been having fun, and it's probably the only way I'm going to get to see you outside of work."

"Not necessarily," Kris said quietly.

Adam's eyes widened, he had been sure that it was too soon to ask Kris out. Was Kris saying that it wasn't? The last thing Adam wanted to do was rush Kris into something he wasn't ready for by pushing him for a date. "Are you saying you wouldn't have run for the hills if I asked you out? I'm not a complication anymore?"

"Oh, you're still a complication," Kris said, blushing slightly. "I'm just not sure you're a complication I don't want."

"Really?" Adam asked, not even hiding his surprise. "I don't want to force you or David into you dating too soon."

"Are you guys going to talk through the whole movie?" David said, annoyed, turning to face them.

"Sorry," both Kris and Adam said.

Kris stood up and gestured for Adam to follow him into the kitchen. "Do you want a beer?" Kris asked as the door swung shut behind Adam. "If we're going to talk about this, I need a beer."

Adam took the beer from Kris' hand and waited while Kris peeked in on the boys to make sure they were still watching the movie. "You aren't pushing me into anything. Or David. Katy's been gone a long time."

"I thought you weren't ready to—"

"I never said I wasn't ready," Kris pointed out, sitting opposite Adam at the table. "I said I didn't need more complications. I was ready to date a couple years ago. I did go on a few dates then. That's how we ended up moving here."

"You said you moved because the memories were too strong," Adam said. He really wasn't following where Kris was trying to go with this story.

"We did move because of the memories of Katy," Kris agreed. "It just wasn't David or me that weren't ready to let go of her. David was only three, he only really has vague memories of his mother."

"So what changed?" Adam asked.

"I met a guy at work. When he asked me out," Kris said as he started pacing, "I wasn't sure if I was ready for that, more importantly if David was. He was five then, and while he didn't remember Katy, he also was used to it just being us. We sat down and talked about it one night, about how he'd feel if I were to go on a date. We talked about all of it, about me dating, about it being a man, he was fine with everything."

Adam stayed quiet when Kris paused in his story. Whatever Kris was trying to tell him was difficult for him and Adam didn't want to do anything to interrupt him.

"Anyway, we went out a few times, it never went anywhere," Kris continued. "He wasn't really interested in a ready-made family. I thought it was over. It was over. Then David spent a weekend with Katy's parents. A week later I got a letter that Katy's parents were suing for custody of David."

"Because you were dating a man?" Adam asked cautiously, still hesitant to interrupt.

"No," Kris sighed. "David only told them that I'd gone on a date, he hadn't told them it was a man. And even if he had, they knew I was bi. It wasn't about it being a man. They were angry that I was dating at all."

"It had been two years though, right?" Adam asked softly. "They couldn't have expected you to wait forever."

"That's exactly what they expected, I learned," Kris said, once again sitting down across from Adam. "They felt that if I were to get involved with someone new that I'd let that person, woman or man, replace Katy in David's life."

"You wouldn't try to replace his mother," Adam said quietly. He couldn’t believe that anyone would actually believe Kris could do that. "They obviously weren't able to get custody."

"No," Kris agreed, "They didn't get custody. But that didn't stop them from appealing it over and over and dragging us into court over and over for two years. After the last time I just packed us up and moved out here. My mother knows how to contact me but not where we are, I don't want her pulled into this anymore than she has to be."

"Of course not," Adam agreed, reaching across the table and taking his hand. "You did what you had to do to give David a normal life."

"But at the same time I'm keeping him from the rest of his family."

"Maybe your family could fly out and visit?" Adam suggested. Kris hadn't said his mother didn't want to be involved, just that he was trying to protect her from it. "Did you ask your mother what she wants?"

"I didn't. I just did what I thought was best," Kris explained. "I didn't want to put them in a position to have Katy's parents going after them to find me."

"I think you need to take a chance and let other people decide what's best for themselves," Adam said.

"I'll call her tomorrow," Kris said, "Maybe we can work something out for Christmas. And now I really should check on the kids."

Adam followed Kris into the living room, Star Wars still on the television and both boys sound asleep on the floor. "You were right," Adam said as Kris lifted David to carry him to the bedroom. "Want me to get Robert?"

"If you don't mind," Kris answered. "They never make it through the movies. It's easier to agree to let them stay up all night because I know they won't make it."

After putting both boys in bed and pulling the door closed, they went back to clean up the remnants of their movie night. Dumping the last of the dirty bowls in the sink Kris turned his attention back to Adam. "Do you want to watch a movie? I don't have a lot of movies that aren't for David but I'm sure we can find something," he suggested, then added nervously, "Unless you were ready to go to bed? I can get the sheets and blankets out if you wanted to sleep?"

"A movie sounds great," Adam agreed. Kris began rummaging through the DVDs stacked under the television while Adam settled back on the couch, grabbing a blanket from the floor. "So, back to what we were talking about before…"

Kris groaned. "I really don't want to discuss Katy or her parents anymore tonight. I'd like to finish this night in a good mood."

 

"Not about that," Adam said carefully. Now that he knew what Kris was facing he wanted to be even more careful not to push too hard. "About the chances of seeing you outside of work."

Kris was quiet while he chose a movie.

"Kris?"

Kris started the movie and sat next to Adam. "You did hear everything I said in the kitchen, right? David's the most important thing in my life, crazy in laws, obsessively careful about no one finding me here?"

"Yeah, I heard it all," Adam said quietly.

"And you're still asking about a date?"

"I am," Adam agreed, a slight smile on his face. "So is that a yes?"

"Yeah," Kris agreed, shaking his head slightly. "We'd have to plan it for a day I can get a sitter and—"

"And not a school night," Adam agreed. "I get that David's first in your life, he should be. And I can handle the other stuff. I'll even help you get a sitter if you need it. I have plenty of friends who like kids."

"I'm sure Alison will do it with enough notice," Kris said, relaxing back into the couch as Adam pulled him closer. "I do need to talk to David first though."

"Of course."

** ** **

"They're still sleeping," David whispered to Robert.

Adam opened his eyes slowly, and felt the weight of Kris still lying against his side. He can't believe they fell asleep sitting on the couch like this. As much as he'd like to stay here and enjoy this moment he was pretty sure the kids were not going to go away any time soon. "Not sleeping," he said quietly. "Your dad is though."

"We're hungry," Robert offered, from where he was standing slightly behind David.

"We tried to wait for Dad to get up," David explained, "But we've been up a long time and he gets angry if I eat junk food before breakfast."

Adam moved slowly, easing his way out from under Kris. He could certainly manage to feed to eight year olds breakfast. "Why don't we go see what we can find?"

The boys followed Adam into the kitchen and watched from their seats at the table as Adam searched the refrigerator and cabinets.

"Do you know how to make pancakes?" David asked.

"And bacon?" Robert added.

"Yes, to both, and I think I saw what we needed for that," Adam agreed, smiling. He rarely made a breakfast like this because it was a waste for just himself. He pulled the box of pancake mix from the cupboard and grabbed the bag of chocolate chips as well, holding them up for the boys to see, "chocolate chip pancakes?"He set the chocolate chips on the counter when the boys nodded their agreement. He then went back to the refrigerator and located the bacon and pulled that out as well. As Adam worked on making breakfast, David and Robert began setting the table.

"This is all very domestic," Kris said from the doorway, causing Adam to nearly drop the pancake he was transferring to the stack next to him on the counter, startled by his sudden appearance. "Am I being replaced?" He asked his attention turned to David now.

David smiled. "Maybe, Adam put chocolate chips in the pancakes. You never do that."

"Because you don't need sugar for breakfast," Kris pointed out as he walked up behind Adam and peered at the plates stacked with pancakes and bacon. "They do look really good though," he offered, kissing Adam's cheek quickly then blushing when Adam turned to look at him and raised an eyebrow. Adam sighed when Kris pulled away, he hadn't been objecting to the kiss, just surprised that it had happened considering Kris' concern about talking to David first.

"I'm sorry," Adam said, glancing between the finished pancakes and Kris. "Was I not supposed to put the chocolate in them?"

"It's not a big deal," Kris assured him. "It's Sunday, and really the maple syrup is full of sugar anyway. You just can't leave until they've come down from their sugar high."

Adam quickly kissed Kris' cheek and whispered, "I should totally run out and get some more candy or something."

"Bacon's burning," Kris said, pointing to the pan on the stove.

"Shit," Adam muttered and turned his attention back to finishing breakfast.

Once breakfast was on the table, everyone chatted and joked while they ate. Afterwards the kids went back to the bedroom to get dressed and play video games until Robert's mother came for him. Kris began clearing the table and rinsing the dishes for the dishwasher, after insisting he didn't need Adam's help since Adam had cooked, and Adam had excused himself to shower and dress.

When the last of the dishes were stacked in the dishwasher Kris turned his attention back to Adam who had come back in and was leaning against the counter watching him finish up. "What you said last night? Do you still think it's a good idea?"

"Yes," Adam said nodding his agreement. "I still want to go out to dinner or something. Preferably one that doesn't involve jumping around in a ball pit. Why, did you change your mind?"

"No," Kris assured him quickly. "I want that too. I just—It's not like you'd be dating just me, David is really part of the package and I thought that maybe after this morning you'd realized you aren't ready for what that means."

Adam sighed, he wasn't sure he was ready for a family yet, it had never been an issue before. He had enjoyed yesterday and breakfast though, so he was willing to see where it led. "I realized the first time you told me you were a single father that pursuing you meant being involved with both you and David. And it's a date. I'm not asking to move in or something. I just want to see where it goes."

"I'd like that too," Kris agreed, and pressed a quick kiss against his lips. "I just haven't done this in so long…"

"And the one time you tried, the problem was David," Adam finished. "I get that, but I'm not that guy. I braved Chuck E. Cheese for you."

"I umm, before I came in here to see what you were doing earlier, I emailed my mom," Kris said hesitantly. "To let her know I needed to talk to her. I’m supposed to call her tonight, after dinner."

"Great," Adam assured him. "I'm sure it'll all work out. Just remember, Katy's parents obviously have no legal argument or they'd have custody already, so maybe they gave up."

"I hope so." Kris sighed. "I miss my family."

"Robert's mom is here!" David said, pushing the door open slightly.

"Be right there," Kris said, pulling away from Adam. "And I'll talk to David tonight too."

"If he's okay with it, I don't have a show on Friday, we could…"

"I'll let you know tomorrow," Kris agreed. "But he'll probably be fine."

Adam followed Kris into the living room and helped Robert put the last of his toys in his backpack. Adam grabbed his own bag as well and told David and Kris that he also needed to go.

"Do you have to?" David asked. "You could stay for lunch. We're having left-over pizza!"

Adam groaned. He didn't need left over pizza. "I'd love to, but I do have some things to do today."

"And you need to work on your project for science," Kris pointed out.

"Adam could help."

"Really, not," Adam cut in. "Science is not my thing. If you ever get a music project though, I'm there."

"Okay," David said, still frowning, then he turned back to Kris, "If I finish it early, can we go to a movie?"

"Maybe," Kris agreed.

"Adam can come too?"

"Okay," Adam said, laughing. "I'm out of here before I end up not getting my lessons worked out for the week."


	5. Part 5

The week had flown by in a blur for Kris. For the first time in longer than he cared to remember he was letting himself relax and be happy. A small part of his mind still held on to the fear that Katy's parents would try to take custody of David again, but he was slowly letting go of that fear. He was finally taking control of his life and letting people he cared about back in and making room for someone new.

After Adam left on Sunday, Kris helped David work on his science project and then they'd gone out to lunch together and he'd talked to David about possibly having his grandparents visit and about Adam. It had all gone much better than Kris could've hoped for. David had been, not surprisingly, thrilled at the prospect of seeing his grandparents again. They had talked about Adam maybe being more than a friend and about Kris dating him. David had been happy with Adam being around more. David had also told Kris he already knew Adam was his boyfriend because he'd seen Kris kiss Adam at breakfast. Which had led to a whole new discussion about not rushing things because it was a kiss on the cheek and they hadn't even been on a date yet, although Kris was pretty sure David was already planning a wedding in his head.

Kris' phone call to his parents had also gone well. It had hit him then just how much he missed his family. They'd talked for a long time, about everything, including the reasons for his lack of contact with them since he'd left town which—had resulted in a lecture about the stupidity of thinking they couldn't take care of themselves and never again trying to protect them by keeping them from him or their grandchild. His parents had agreed to fly out to visit over the holidays. They'd bring Daniel as well so they could spend Christmas together as a family again. Kris had then given David the phone to talk to his grandparents while he went to start dinner. Twenty minutes later he found himself on the wrong side of another lecture about neglecting to tell them he had a new boyfriend, and his explaining to his parents, as he had David earlier, that he and Adam hadn't even gone on a date yet.

Adam had continued to meet him in the library for coffee in the morning and lunch in the afternoon. Kris was relieved to finally be able to talk about his past, and by the end of the week he'd shared almost as much about his life as Adam had shared since they'd met. Adam had even joined Kris and David for dinner a couple times. So Kris had no reason to be nearly as nervous as he was for his upcoming date. He and David both liked Adam, and Adam knew all about his life and David and he still wanted to be with him so there was really nothing to worry about. Yet, he was still spending way too much time fidgeting in front of the mirror when David shouted from the living room that Allison was there and he was going to let her in.

"You look perfect, Kris," Allison said a few minutes later, from where she was leaning against the wall next to the door. "Relax."

"It's a first date," he pointed out, still trying to tame his hair into something resembling a style. "I'm supposed to be nervous."

"You've spent more time with him in the last month than I have with my boyfriend," Allison pointed out, pushing off the wall and moved closer, examining his hair as she did. "Sit."

Kris complied, not that he had a choice when she'd moved in front of him and pushed him onto the bed. "Doesn't mean something can't go wrong," he sighed.

Allison sorted frowned at the few hair products he owned finally choosing the gel and a comb. She started working on his hair herself. "You worry too much. I get to meet him right?"

"Depends are you going to give him the third degree?" Kris asked. "I'd really like to not scare him away so quickly." Kris loved Allison but she could be overwhelming at times.

"Of course not," she said smiling. "Just want to talk to him. What would I possibly do to scare him away?"

"Yeah," Kris said trying to give her a stern look but failing as he broke into a smile. "You will meet him eventually I'm sure. But we're cutting it really close on time…so later, okay?" He heard a knock on the door and David asking who was there, and then the door was being opened so he assumed it meant Adam was at the door.

Allison stepped back a few steps and eyed her handiwork critically. "Well, since your boyfriend is here, I guess I'm done. Next time I'm coming early."

"Thanks," Kris said, giving her a hug before going to greet Adam and get him out of the apartment before Allison had a chance to question him and scare him off.

** ** **  
"I am so sorry," Adam said as they walked to the restaurant next to the theater, "I swear my friends told me it was a great movie."

"It wasn't that bad," Kris assured him. Adam looked at him, eyebrow raised in question. Kris laughed as they walked into the restaurant, "Okay, it was horrible. But do you have any idea how long it's been since I've been to a movie that wasn't animated?"

They followed the hostess to a table. Once she'd left to get their drink orders Adam lamented, "This was supposed to be a perfect night and the movie was awful."

"It _has_ been a perfect night," Kris said. "I'm having fun. The movie wasn't good, but we did get to spend two hours mocking it, that's something, right? And it was time together that didn't involve worrying about a kid interrupting."

They continued to mock the movie after they gave their orders to the waitress, then Kris' phone buzzed. Kris looked down and sighed. "It's Allison, I have to…"

"It's fine."

Kris picked up his phone and clicked on the text message from Allison. He was sure it was nothing but he couldn't assume that either. He looked at the screen and smiled.

"What is it?" Adam asked. "Obviously nothing's wrong."

"She says if I don't promise to bring you in so she can meet you she's going to give David every drop of sugar and caffeine she can find," Kris said. "Would you mind meeting her?"

"Not at all," Adam agreed. "I'd love to meet her. I've heard so much about her from David this week."

Kris quickly sent back a text letting her know that Adam would be there and that they'd only be another hour or two. "Where were we?" He asked putting the phone back on the table.

"I'm fine sticking to where I was getting an invitation in tonight," Adam said, smiling.

Kris blushed, "You know you—we can't—David—"

"Relax," Adam said, reaching across the table to stop Kris' flailing hands. "I'm kidding. Not that I'd turn you down if you offered, but David's home and it's way too soon."

Kris felt himself relax again. He really needed to stop worrying. He and Adam had discussed all of this days ago. David was his first priority and that would mean taking things slow. Likely a lot slower than Adam was used to. Adam has been fine with it and understood all of his reasons. Kris should've realized he was joking, and panicking wasn't necessary.   
** ** **  
Kris tried to pull Adam's head back down for another kiss. They were standing outside his door and he really wasn't ready to go in and end what had been a wonderful night. Adam let himself be pulled back for one more quick kiss before pulling back out of Kris' reach.

"Not that I’m not enjoying this," Adam said a small smile on his lips, "But shouldn't we go inside?"

Kris sighed and reached for Adam again. "It's more fun out here."

Before Adam could respond the door swung open and Allison's leaned out into the hallway. "Really, are you two fifteen? You don't have to hide outside to make out. Get in here," she said before closing the door and disappearing back inside.

Kris dropped his head on Adam's shoulder. "Now's your chance to run."

Adam grinned and took Kris' hand. "I’m not running away. I want to meet your friend."

"Let's go," Kris muttered, pushing away from the wall. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

When they walked into the apartment, Allison was sitting on the couch watching a cartoon with David. She turned to look at them when the door closed. "Home so soon?" She asked, grinning. "I had no idea you were back."

"So that was just someone that looked like you in the hall a few minutes ago?" Kris asked.

Allison and David looked at each other started giggling. Kris sighed; it was never good if the two of them were conspiring about something.

"Hi, Adam," David said waving. "Want to watch cartoons with us?"

"I'd love to," Adam said, "but I can't stay. I just came in to say hi and to meet Allison."

"We could have another sleepover," David pleaded. "Please?"

"You had a sleepover?" Allison said, looking back and forth between Kris and Adam, and biting her lip to keep from laughing.

"Last weekend after Chuck E. Cheese, David talked him into coming back for his sleepover," Kris answered, hoping he wasn't blushing nearly as much as he thought he was, and then to Adam he added, "I told you to run while you had the chance. This is Allison, by the way."

"Hi, Allison," Adam said, smiling. "The sleepover was totally innocent. I slept on the couch."

"With Daddy on top of him," David supplied.

Kris was sure his face couldn't get any redder, and Adam just laughed when Allison's eyebrows went up. "We fell asleep watching a movie after we put the boys to bed."

"Sure," Allison agreed. "Makes sense, really."

"So Adam, can you stay?" David asked again.

"I don't have pajamas or anything with me," Adam answered. "I really do need to go home. I have a rehearsal tomorrow morning."

"You could just get up early and go home before rehearsals," Allison suggested cheerfully. "It's a rock band. Rehearsals can't be that early."

"You aren't helping," Kris muttered to her. "David, I don't think it's a good idea for Adam to spend the night."

"You said he could last week."

"He's right," Allison pointed out.

Kris looked at Adam who just shrugged. Of course it wasn't like he could reasonably expect Adam to know what to say to a kid. "That was different," Kris finally said.

"Is it because he's your boyfriend now?" David asked.

Kris took a deep breath and tried to quickly come up with an explanation that his son would accept. Finally, deciding there wasn’t one, he went with the parental standby, "He can't stay because I said he can't," Kris said. "Now, go get your shoes so we can take Allison home, please."

"I can drive her home," Adam offered. "There's no reason for you to have to back out. I'm leaving anyway."

"Are you sure?" Kris asked. When Adam nodded, Kris looked at Allison. "Is that okay with you?"

"Sure!" She agreed smiling. "It'll give me more time to talk to Adam."

"Oh God," Kris muttered, and then asked Adam again, "You sure you want to take her home?"

"I can handle it."

"I'll go grab my stuff," Allison said, getting up from the couch and tugging David's arm so he stood too. "Come help me."

"Why?"

"Because I want you to," she answered, still tugging him along behind her. "And so your dad can say good night to Adam."

"Why can't I—"

Whatever David had been about to say was cut off when Allison closed the bedroom door after pulling him inside. Kris turned and buried his face in Adam's chest as he hugged him. His son and Allison were obviously trying to make him die of embarrassment.

"I am so sorry," Kris said, picking his head back up to look Adam in the eye again. "I want to say I can't believe they did that, but David got really attached to you fast, and Allison is, well, Allison."

Adam wrapped his arms around Kris and hugged him close. "It's fine. She's cute, and has obviously noticed you're kinda fun to embarrass. But we really should get on that good night thing before they come back."

"Definitely yeah," Kris said as Adam leaned in to kiss him again.

They pulled apart when Allison yelled from the bedroom, "Is it okay to come back out now?"

Kris dropped his head back against Adam's chest muttering, "Can you die of embarrassment?"

Kris frowned when Adam chuckled. "Yes you can," he yelled.

"Bye, Adam!" David said following Allison back into the room. "Can we have a sleepover another night?"

Adam glanced at Kris before answering. "I’m sure we will. We'll just have to work together to talk your dad into it."

David hugged Adam tightly, and everyone finished saying their goodbyes. Once Adam and Allison left Kris told David he could watch the rest of the cartoon while Kris checked his email and then they'd go to bed. There was one from his mother. Apparently she had called while he was out and talked to David. Now, of course, she wanted to know about his date and more about Adam. He glanced back at David who had already fallen asleep on the couch. He debated waiting until morning to answer, but decided he'd do it now or she'd just call him in the morning. He hit reply and began telling his mother about Adam and their date.


	6. Epilogue

Adam balanced the pile of gifts on the floor next to him and knocked on the door. He didn't think he'd ever been as simultaneously excited and frightened about Christmas shopping before. Not that he celebrated it personally, but he liked buying gifts for his friends and most of them did celebrate. This year was different, though. This year he wanted to make sure he had the perfect gifts. David had been easy. Well, the knowing what to buy was easy, the boy was a constant stream of "I _need_ that!" when watching television.

Kris was harder though, Kris wouldn’t tell him what he wanted. This was why he'd ended up offering to pick David up from school one day so that he could recruit help getting the right gift. He glanced back down at the pile of gifts and hoped that David had been right about the guitar. David had said that his dad always stopped to look at this particular guitar and even went in to play it a couple times. He'd shown it to Tommy and Monte who'd assured it was a great choice as well. It didn't stop him from worrying, though. It'd been a long time since he'd been this serious about a relationship and he wanted it to be perfect.

He had also found small gifts for Kris' parents and brother, which was even harder since he'd never met them, although he'd spoken to Kim on the phone a couple times. Kris had told him not to worry about gifts but this was something he really wanted to do, so he'd found gifts for each of them, hoping he got it right with nothing but Kris' stories about his parents to go on.

"Who is it?" David whispered.

"It's Adam."

The door swung open and David hugged him tightly. "Daddy said you wouldn't make it here before breakfast was over," he said smiling. "And he said that meant we couldn't open presents until after breakfast."

"He said that, huh?" Adam said, returning the hug. "I wouldn't do that to you. Does this mean presents first then?"

"Everyone's still sleeping," David answered frowning. "I could wake them up."

"How about you help me get the gifts inside?" Adam suggested, handing a few smaller gifts to David to carry. "Then we can make some coffee, maybe that will wake them up."

The two of them carried the gifts in and put them under the already overcrowded space beneath the tree. Then they went in the kitchen and David poured himself a glass of orange juice while Adam made coffee.

"Have you been having fun with your grandparents and uncle?" Adam asked, sitting at the table across from David while they waited for the coffee. Adam hadn't seen much of Kris or David in the last few days, staying away to allow them all time to catch up and get to know David again.

"Yeah," David said, taking a drink of his juice before launching into a list of everything they'd done since Christmas break had started. "And Uncle Daniel said maybe next year we all go to Arkansas for Christmas and then I can play in the snow like I used to."

"That sounds wonderful," Adam agreed. "I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time."

"Aren't you coming too?" David asked.

"I umm—I don't—"Adam wasn't sure how to answer that. He'd love to go with them on a holiday vacation but it was still a year away and it wasn't as if Kris or his parents had actually invited him. "It might just be a family thing."

"Of course he's coming too," Kris said, walking over to them and kissing them both on the cheek, before pulling down several mugs and filling two with coffee. "Adam is part of the family now too."

"Do I smell coffee?" A voice said from the doorway.

"Adam made it," Kris said holding a mug out toward his mother. She took it from him as his father and brother came in right behind her. Kris quickly poured everyone coffee and made introductions.

"Are we going to open presents now?" David asked interrupting the conversation that had developed around him.

"Sure," Kim said following David back into the living room, "Lead the way."

An hour later, Kris and Adam were alone in the kitchen making breakfast while the others were working on assembling David's new toys.

"I can't believe you got me that guitar," Kris said, for what seemed like the hundredth time since he'd opened it. "I really can't thank you enough."

"I have plenty of ideas about how you can thank me," Adam said grinning as he dumped a bag of chocolate chips into the pancake batter.

"I'm sure you do," Kris answered giving him a quick kiss before turning his attention back to the bacon and sausage he was frying. "I'm also sure every one of those ideas will have to wait until my parents go home."

"They definitely will," Adam agreed. "So you want to tell me about this trip to Arkansas? I know you're feeling more secure about David and the custody thing, but I didn't think you'd be willing to go back."

"It's only for a visit," Kris assured him. "I'm not moving back. Not unless you want to go to Arkansas and I think you're way too L.A. for that. But I hadn't had a chance to tell you. My parents gave me a letter last night after David had gone to bed."

Kris paused, and Adam waited quietly for Kris to continue. Kris was so happy and relaxed now. He'd been relaxing more over the last few months but today he was…Adam didn't even know how to describe, but he was different. Like that last little bit of fear had dropped away.

"It was a letter from Katy's mother," Kris said slowly. "It's over. The letter was—She apologized for what had happened. After I left they finally decided to get the grief counseling the judge had told them to get. They aren't going to try to take David anymore. They also want the chance to get to know him again. She suggested maybe sending him out there for the summer."

"Are you going to do that?" Adam asked, cautiously. He knew he had no say in what Kris did, but he thought that might be asking a lot of Kris this soon.

"No," Kris answered. "I can't do that. Not now. I did say we'd all come out and visit for a week or two over the summer, and then Daniel suggested Christmas as well."

"All?" Adam asked raising an eyebrow in question.

"The suggestions included you," Kris answered. "I meant what I said, you're part of this family now. But you don't have to go if you don't want to."

"I want to," Adam said smiling and pulling Kris into a one armed hug. "I'd love to. I just wasn't sure we were planning this far in advance already."

"Does it bother you?"

"Nope," Adam answered, placing the last of the pancakes on the serving plate, and pulling Kris in for a kiss before they could be interrupted by family seeking out the smell of breakfast. "I plan on sticking around for a very long time."

 

The end.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Summer in Arkansas](https://archiveofourown.org/works/495829) by [elizabuffy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/elizabuffy/pseuds/elizabuffy)




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